Tobacco.org

• Smoking ban exemptions are now the focus of criticism 

Steve Stenger, the County Council member who insisted that any ban include a casino exemption, said he expected the council to move next year to rescind it.

"With upwards of 65 percent of the people voting in favor of the ban, I think you can see the day coming to phase out that exemption," said Stenger, D-Affton. "Tuesday showed very clearly that most people do not want to be exposed to smoke in any public place."

Stenger predicted that the County Council would take action to eliminate the exemption shortly after the ban takes effect in 2011. If it chose, the council could change the ordinance on its own without submitting it to public vote again. . . .

The city and county exemptions drew attention on many fronts Wednesday.

Those who fought the bans said the casino exemption was unconstitutional, and could be used to invalidate the entire proposition.

At O'Connell's Pub off South Kingshighway, the talk was how to measure a bar's square footage so that it would be protected by the city's five-year exemption for bars under 2,000 square feet.

And in Maplewood, a restaurant owner who opposed the ban is adamantly against exemptions.

Bill Hannegan, an activist against both smoking bans, said opponents met Wednesday with lawyers to discuss ways to overturn them. . . .

And he said his group has discussed an initiative petition to address the most restrictive provisions of the city ban. His group, Keep St. Louis Free, views the city ban as more onerous than the county ban, which has the exemption for bars that make less than 25 percent of their revenue off food.

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• Anti-smoking laws being violated  

Smokers violating the law of complete ban on tobacco use at work and public places have still continued this practice in the federal capital. Citizens complained that after withdrawal of Statutory Rules and Orders (SRO), all public and work places have become smoke-free, therefore, smokers should not be allowed smoking or using tobacco in any other form in any public place.

They said individuals and offices are clearly violating the ordinance. They said complete implementation of law would help protect the health of non-smokers and make the smokers abiders of the concerned laws.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier, all public and private offices were allowed to designate a separate place for smokers to smoke within office premises with adequate arrangements to protect the health of non-smokers.

However, such permission was being misused

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• Removal of lacunas in Anti-Smoking Ordinance urged 

Health experts believe that consumption of tobacco in Pakistan is becoming more and more alarming because its incidence is increasing among youth of Pakistan especially in schools, colleges and universities.

According to an estimate, Pakistanis smoke away Rs50 billion annually. Around 100,000 persons die every year in Pakistan due to diseases related to tobacco use. There are over 30 million smokers in Pakistan of which 37% are male while 9% female and about 1,200 youngsters take up smoking every day. Tobacco is the cause of at least 85% cases of lung cancer, cancer of mouth, throat, kidney, bladder and stroke, besides chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Health experts say that Pakistan needs to reduce tobacco use to control non-communicable diseases and achieve the related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that can only be done by removing lacunas in current Anti-Smoking Ordinance because legislation and its implementation in true letter and spirit is the key to effective tobacco control.

"Markets like Pakistan are fair grounds for tobacco sales of big tobacco companies because of huge young and illiterate population, loose price controls, permission of sale of open or small packs of cigarettes, ignorance about toxic constituents and emissions of cigarettes and diverse health impacts; last but not the least due to lacunas in 'Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance 2002'," said Head of Community Medicine at Islamabad Medical & Dental College Professor Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry while talking to 'The News' on lacunas in the ordinance.

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• Health officials to seek smoking ban in Oklahoma 

Anti-smoking advocates called on lawmakers Thursday to make bars and restaurants in Oklahoma smoke-free by closing loopholes in the state law restricting smoking in public places.

Officials from the American Heart Association and the state Department of Health said they will support legislation next year to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, similar to a bill that died in the Oklahoma House last spring.

Oklahoma was among the first states in the nation to regulate smoking in public places in 2003. But the legislation allows smoking in separate smoking rooms in restaurants and stand-alone bars. When the bill died in the House last spring, Rep. John Trebilcock, R-Broken Arrow, chairman of the House Public Health Committee, said he was not inclined to give it a hearing because of the investment restaurants had made to comply with state smoking restrictions.

Since Oklahoma's law went into effect, 27 other states have adopted comprehensive smoke-free laws that ban smoking in public places, said Marilyn Davidson, government relations director for the American Heart Association in Oklahoma City.

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• Palestine City Council OKs Smoking Ban  

Smoking in public places, places of employment and some outdoor areas will be prohibited here under an ordinance adopted Monday by Palestine City Council. Bars, nightclubs and some other places are exempted from the smoking ban.

The ordinance further makes it unlawful to smoke within 20 feet of outside entrances, operable windows and ventilation systems of enclosed areas where smoking is prohibited.

In an unrelated action, the council extended hours for the sale of mixed beverages to 2 a.m.

The nonsmoking order, passed by a majority of councilmembers with two nay votes, makes employers responsible for providing a smoke-free workplace for employees.

It charges the owner, manager or other persons in control of a public place or a place of employment to post "No Smoking" signs conspicuously at the entrance.

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• Highlights of Today's Epic Smoking Ban Debate at St. Louis City Hall  

Today's meeting was a lesson in how sausage -- and cigarettes -- are made.

​As mentioned on this here blog earlier today, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen approved by a 20-7 vote a bill that would prohibit smoking in most bars and restaurants should voters in St. Louis County also approve a smoking ban on November 3.

The nearly-four-hour debate inside the board chambers was one of the longest in memory with aldermen attempting to attach no less than five separate amendments to the bill.

Doing their best to hold up passage of the bill was a block of south city aldermen -- Ken Ortmann (Ward 9), Stephen Gregali (Ward 14) and Stephen Conway (Ward 8) -- who did everything but read out of the telephone book in their attempt to delay a vote.

In the end, though, the bill passed with the addition of one amendment designed to aide small taverns defined as those establishments whose customer space (all areas besides kitchens, bathrooms and storage rooms) measures less than 2,000 square feet. Taverns under that size would have five years to adhere to the ban once it goes into effect.

As it stands now, the city ordinance would become law on January 1, 2011, but only if voters in St. Louis County approve a smoking ban at the ballots on November 3. . . .

The board debate was sparked by much grandstanding and hyperbole, but none more entertaining than a speech by Freeman Bosley Sr. (Ward 3) who explained to his colleagues how tobacco is processed. According to the alderman, tobacco is left to dry in barns where it attracts all types of vermin including "oppossums, rats, waterbugs and cockroaches."

"Then they come up and scoop up all that tobacco and grind it up with the insects and animals in there and then they spray it with formaldehyde," said Bosley. "When you smoke and you hear something pop and crackle in the cigarette, that's rat's eyeballs burning up!"

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• Pool hall renews challenge of Neb. smoking ban  

An Omaha pool hall owner has renewed his legal challenge of the state's smoking ban.

Big John's Billiards has filed a revised complaint in Lancaster County District Court to argue the ban that went into effect June 1 is unconstitutional.

The statewide smoking ban includes exemptions for cigar bars, some hotel rooms, tobacco-only retailers, facilities that do research on the health effects of smoking, and private residences.

Big John's argues that the exceptions to the ban are unfair and should make the ban unconstitutional.

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• High court upholds Bavaria's porous smoking ban  

constitutional.

A state parliamentary decision went into effect on August 1, changing the general ban to allow smokers in pubs smaller than 75 square metres, in addition to restaurants and beer tents that create smoking sections in side rooms. Children are not allowed in smoking areas.

The state Health Ministry will now also allow smoking at establishments that can insure limited second-hand smoke with special ventilations systems.

Smoking in public areas is still strictly forbidden, according to the court.

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• Geneva's smoking ban returns after one-year break 

A ban on smoking in public places will return to Switzerland's Geneva canton after being approved in a referendum Sunday, a year after a court ended a first bid to prohibit lighting up.

Geneva's residents voted 81.77 percent in favour of bringing back the ban, with only 18.3 percent voting against.

A canton-wide smoking ban in public places was originally introduced on July 1, 2008, after the state government used a first referendum as grounds for pushing through the move.

But the Federal Tribunal ruled three months later that the ban should not have been passed by the canton's lawmakers before the state's government enacted legislation. . . .

The new rules allow bar, hotel and restaurant owners to fit out special smoking rooms in their establishments . . .

Supporters of the ban are opposed to this compromise, however, and said Sunday they would appeal to the Federal Tribunal.

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• Croatia backs down on smoking ban  

Croatia has made a U-turn on a law banning smoking in public after buckling to pressure from cafe and restaurant owners who told the government it was ruining their businesses.

The parliament on Thursday adopted an amended law that again allows smoking in cafes and restaurants in specially designated smoking zones covering no more than a fifth of any premises. The remaining four-fifths must be kept for non-smokers.

Cafes smaller than 50 square metres (538 square feet), however, will be allowed to decide whether to become a smoking or non-smoking establishment after meeting certain criteria.

Ever since the law banning smoking in all public places was introduced in May, managers of cafes and restaurants have pressed the government to amend it.

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• For cigarette smokers, a more bitter taste  

In less than a week, clove cigarettes and all other flavored tobacco will be pulled from the shelves, substantiating the Food and Drug Administration's first directive controlling the sale of tobacco products.

"It continues to be a shock every day for customers," said Co-owner of Davis Newsbeat, Janis Lott.

On June 22, President Barack Obama signed into law, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, effectively giving the FDA wide ranging authority to regulate tobacco.

Flavored tobacco was the first targeted because critics say artificial additives like cherry, grape, chocolate, and spiced cigarettes such as cloves, appeal to youths and lays the groundwork for a smoking addiction. The law only applies to rolled cigarettes, and menthols were spared in this particular prohibition.

In other words, mint is out, but menthols are acceptable. According to Lott, Nat Sherman's Hint of Mint packaging will soon read "menthol," but it's contents will be unaffected. . . .

With America as Kretek International's fifth largest importer, the company has found a loop hole in the FDAs ban. Kretek is now manufacturing cigars, close to the size of a cigarette and flavored with clove, vanilla and cherry. . . .

But delayed notification from either the FDA, or state and county agencies that manage tobacco licenses, according to Lott, means little time to inform customers and scale back on purchasing from vendors.

It wasn't until Monday that the FDA issued a letter to members of the industry warning of prosecution to those selling what they labeled as "adulterated products," beyond Sept. 22.

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• Smoke-free? Sort of --  

Pennsylvania's been a ''smoke-free'' state for nearly a year.

Except for the 3,100 clubs exempt from the 2008 Clean Indoor Air Act. And the nine casinos that still cater to smokers. And the 2,700 restaurants, bars and lounges granted exemptions in the past year.

That's almost 6,000 establishments -- including 96 restaurants and lounges and more than 150 private social clubs in the Lehigh Valley -- where people can still smoke 'em if they got 'em. An additional 350 applications for exemptions are in process, and new ones are arriving each week.

So thousands of workers and nonsmoking customers continue to breathe second-hand smoke each day. Still, even the most dedicated anti-smoking advocates say the law is doing what it was intended to do -- protecting most Pennsylvanians. . . .

People on both sides still are trying to get a handle on the law's impact. It's clear some patrons have switched watering holes, based on whether they smoke or not. But it's less clear how much it has affected business, largely because of the recession.

Several things seem clear: The people who lobbied against the law still hate it, those who worked to get it passed say it is working, and exemptions are generating buzz.

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• Bars, restaurants not having trouble attracting customers under smoking ban 

Singer, the manager of Grille 31 in Mt. Pleasant, said the smoking ban has not exacted a toll on business there.

"We still have smokers who still come in here and we have an outside patio now and they go outside and smoke. Our business hasn't changed at all. I was shocked," Singer said.

And patrons are breathing easier since the Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act took effect on Sept. 11, 2008.

"The Clean Indoor Air Act is clearly an improvement because it is saving lives and saving money in Pennsylvania," said Joy Blankley-Meyer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco.

But anti-smoking groups are not completely satisfied because people can still smoke in some public places.

"The other way to look at it is that there are several exceptions in this law and that causes some workers in the hospitality industry not to be protected and we want everyone to be protected," said Blankley-Meyer.

State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, a Montgomery County Republican who advocated for the law, has introduced a bill to close the remaining "loopholes" allowing smoking indoors, she said.

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• Dooley signs smoking bill; voters to decide  

St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley signed a bill Friday morning that will let voters decide on Nov. 3 whether to ban smoking in most indoor public places.

"I think it is imperative that the people of St. Louis County deserve to be heard at the polls," Dooley said before signing the bill in his office at the county administration building.

The bill, passed Tuesday night by the County Council, exempts casino floors, the smoking lounges currently in operation at the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, and "drinking establishments" whose income from food is 25 percent or less of gross income.

The exemptions prompted some groups, including the American Cancer Society, to urge Dooley to veto the measure.

Dooley, a former smoker, said he recognizes that "this is not a perfect bill."

"But at the same time, I recognize as well that people should have the opportunity to vote on this important health issue."

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• Czechs clarify smoking legislation but total ban still long way off  

The Czech Republic clarified – rather than tightened – its smoking legislation on Friday, when the Senate passed an amendment to the law on smoking in public places. The amendment was very much a compromise between anti-smoking campaigners on one hand, and those trying to protect people’s right to light up in bars and restaurants on the other. But as Rob Cameron reports, a total ban – such as that which exists in many European countries - is still a long way off.

As any visitor to Prague already knows, smokers are mostly free to light up anywhere and anytime they want in Czech bars, pubs and restaurants. The present legislation merely requires the owners of such establishments to divide seating areas into smoking and non-smoking, but when all that means is smoke wafting over from a smoking area into a non-smoking area, that separation is largely imaginary.

The new law attempts to clarify that. From now on – if the president signs it – pubs and restaurants will decide whether they are smoking or not, and will be obliged to say so on the door. Veteran anti-smoking campaigner Boris Šťastný, one of the MPs who drew up the amendment, had this to say to the online news server novinky.cz:

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